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I was disgusted seeing that obama could shed a tear for those children but not for those he murders with his drones, nor for the first responders who are often the distraught parents and relatives who are then murdered by the "double tap" targeting by drones. The hypocrisy of his tears was driven further into my heart when i recalled that the UN have described double tap strikes as a crime against humanity, though one that those in the american government appear to have immunity over. The irony is that the US DHS and FBI have described double taps as "terrorist tactics".

I digress.

This is yet another tragic violent incident and i am sure e usual political circus is being played out and in it all i suspect the underlying problem will be missed. The US is a violent culture that leads with violence from the very top. A a massive military that uses extreme violence and destruction, a political class that see the use and threat of force as the most effective tool it has, a vast state security apparatus that has shown time and time again its wiliness to employ violence when its dogma is being questioned, a heavily militarised police. Add to this an endless stream of violence pouring out of its movie and tv factories while at the same time the news media sanitise the blood, body parts and entrails and the heart break out of its reports. Then the final part of this toxic mix, medicating people from young ages with amphetamines and other mood altering drugs because society has become too lazy to spend time on and with its children and each other.

The sad part is that i think many realise that this problem exists and that they want to do something about it so they turn to easiest structure to hand, the church and religion. The churches arranges prayer meetings and memorials so people can join in and feel like they are contributing. They ask people to "send their prayers" which of course are as much use as fairy wings on an Airbus 340, and so once again the real problems are not addressed. This is why this will happen all over again, and again, and again, and again.

Did i hug my children a little longer last night, no. I hug my children every night, every morning, every afternoon and as i do i keep in mind just how lucky I am.
Apologies for the round about response there.
Nina van der Roos.

Shame on you, Nina, for comparing this tragedy to military drone strikes on the other side of the world. Our president does not relish the thought that anyone must die in a military arena. Especially innocent children. And to imply that Mr. Obama knowingly murders innocents is an outrage.

No shame on my part at all, i am not the one on one hand ordering death and then shedding tears when violence inevitably comes home to roost. Of course he knowingly murders innocents when he attacks HOMES. He is sending aircraft to attack people who he knows have no defence against the weapons used against them, what else is that, and then he allows the forces under his command to double tap, an acknowledged war crime, in other words murder. Obama murders, it is a statement of fact from extrapolation of logic using definitions made by his own government.

Nina, don't forgot, this American war machine is the result of Europe's two world wars. Before that the US had an outdated, weak military and that was fine and good with us. I am sure the draftee US soldiers sent to liberate your country were not exactly thrilled about taking on the German Army.Total war, the bombing of cities, killing civilians is also a European invention.

So now we are saddled with this giant military complex. Just like the one that broke the Soviet Union. It's hard to shed it.

If you want to launch a tirade against America I suggest you open a new thread. To hijack this thread after what our country experienced yesterday is a little callous don't you think. Did you jump onto the Norwegians as well when they were victimized by that European psychopath? Probably not.

Ed, as it happens I am a nurse and i serve in the Koninklijke Landmacht,have done since leaving school. I have also done tours in Iraq and Afghanistan but i will leave that there as it it will pull further away from e thread, in the unlikely event you want my views on those wars you can ask directly, not going to bore everyone with that. My point was that violence in a society is many threads, including how the government of that society conducts itself, as well as social policy etc etc and that resort to prayer is just a sop for the masses to help them feel they can "do" something.

Perhaps I need to make my point more explicitly, i wish i could draw then I could but what I want to say into comic book format for you, would that help ? (And Yes that was meant to be condescending).
Kindest regards (that was not condescension, sarcasm or irony),
Nina van der Roos.

I believe she did. Apparently she thinks Obama wakes up every a.m. wondering "How many more innocent civilians can I kill today." His job in terms of security is to protect the United States. Period. If she knows a better way to do it, I didn't find it in her post.

Nina, your first words appear to say that Obama has ordered the targeting of children and first responders the way the shooter targeted the Connecticut school children.

You did indeed digress, but your final paragraph gives me hope.

One of the hellishly difficult things that politically active people have to do is to refrain from dumping our emotions in convenient places. Instead, we have to collect the energy our emotions give us and use it effectively. With practice, it becomes easier to do but we might look like mechanical people.

We have emotions, but dumping them would weaken our efforts.

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Added later, Nina.

Your words in the posts just above lead me to question my conclusion about hope.